Euro area unemployment at 6.4% (2024)

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Euro area unemployment at 6.4%? ›

The Eurozone unemployment report for April 2024, which was released today, shows that it hit at a new record low of 6.4%, beating analyst estimates of 6.5%, according to Eurostat. This was a decrease from March's number, which was 6.5% as well.

Euro area unemployment at 6.4% - Eurostat.

Unemployment across Europe showed little change in March, compared to February, according to Eurostat. The rate in the Eurozone remained at 6.5%, the same as in the first two months of the year and down from 6.6% in March 2023. Across the 27 countries in the EU, the rate slightly decreased to 6% from 6.1% in February.

Long term unemployment in the EU regions

In the detailed ranking, the highest shares were recorded by Central Greece (Sterea Ellada) (81.2 %), North-West region (75.6 %) in Bulgaria, East Macedonia, Thrace (71.8 %) and Central Macedonia (71.3 %) in Greece, as well as East Slovakia (70.8 %) in Slovakia (see Figure 4).

In addition to oil prices, interest rates, taxes, and unemployment benefits, which have tended to raise the long-run unemployment rate, there are important dynamic features of unemployment—such as inertia and overshooting—that have contributed significantly to the European unemployment problem over the past 25 years.

What's a good unemployment rate? A reasonable unemployment rate is somewhere between 3% and 5%. When unemployment is low, workers are usually paid more and will spend more, which is good for the economy. However, the additional money in circulation can help cause inflation, which if unchecked can be harmful.

In comparing labor market conditions during the initial phase of the pandemic, Klitgaard indicates that the U.S. unemployment rate rose from 3.5 percent in February 2020 to 14.7 percent in April 2020, while the unemployment rate for the euro area remained near 7.5 percent through May 2020 and rose to 8.6 percent in ...

Employment rates in six EU countries surpassed 81 %: The Netherlands leading with 83.5 %, followed by Sweden (82.6 %), Estonia (82.1 %), Czechia and Malta both (81.7 %), and Germany (81.1 %). By contrast, Romania (68.7 %), Greece (67.4 %), and Italy (66.3 %) had employment rates below 70 %.

Since 2013 the unemployment rate and its natural rate - the unemployment rate at which price/wage inflation is stable independently of the stage of cycle - are declining in the euro area and European Union (EU). The forecast for the unemployment and natural rate for 2020 is 7.4% and 6.2%, respectively.

Which European country has lowest unemployment? ›

The Faroe Islands have the lowest unemployment rate in Europe, at 1.3%. Spain and Greece have the highest rates, at 13% and 12%, respectively.

One of the main reasons for increasing unemployment in Spain is due to the country's tight labour market regulations, which are also seen in the housing market as well as the medicine market.

It is shown that the main reason for high unemployment in France is a slow down in the demand for labouridue to high labour and energy costs in the early 1980s and to tight aggregate demand over the whole period. Changes in the labour supply have had an increasing impact in recent years.

The labour market has been an important driver of the economy's resilience over the last few years, said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING. "A combination of fiscal stimulus, furlough schemes and demographic change seems to have made the German labour market almost invincible," Brzeski said.

The Greek economy is over-regulated and hence hurts investment in the country which hurts youth employment, and also has a lumbering public sector which strains government finances.

The OECD produces harmonised unemployment rates for OECD members based on the ILO definition of unemployment. The UK harmonised unemployment rate for Q1 2024 was 4.3%. This was above Germany (3.2%) and the US (3.8%) but below France (7.4%). The Eurozone's rate was 6.5% in Q4 2023, while in the G7 it was 4.2%.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, 196.0 million persons in the EU were employed. The EU seasonally adjusted employment rate for people aged 20-64 years stood at 75.5 %, up from 75.4 % in the third quarter of 2023, as shown in Figure 1.

Overview. Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.6% in May 2024, up from 2.4% in April according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.